VIENNA (Sputnik) — Russia expects NATO to abandon its confrontational course and join forces with Russia for the sake of global security, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov said Tuesday.
"We still hope that common sense will prevail. We hope that our Western partners will find strength to abandon their confrontational plans and consider joining forces with Russia to ensure global and regional security," Meshkov said.
According to the deputy minister, NATO's military buildup in Eastern Europe and its official policy of containment in relation to Russia can only be described as confrontational.
"Europe is experiencing an unprecedented militarization of its Central and Eastern regions. Almost all NATO countries set about increasing their military spending. The Alliance is conducting unreasonably massive exercises…," Meshkov added.
NATO has been increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea since the outbreak of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in April 2014, in response to what it considers to be Russia's aggressive foreign policy.
